Domanick Davis - 3rd down back

That is what he was drafted as, and that is exactly what he is. Now the front office needs to get us a workhorse back to carry the load whether it be through the draft or free agency. What are our options? Ronnie Brown is at the top of my list. Suggestions?

That is what he was drafted as, and that is exactly what he is. Now the front office needs to get us a workhorse back to carry the load whether it be through the draft or free agency. What are our options? Ronnie Brown is at the top of my list. Suggestions?

Click to expand...

Ronnie Brown, behind this line.....now that is laughable.....you guys keep calling for new players...when all you have to do is look at the Line....watch the tape!!!!

There is no LINE NO LINE NO LINE NO LINE!!!! Geez...

How do you expect anyone to run, when all there are, are Yellow Jersey with big CHEESE HEADS on them waiting for you? Please answer me that....

It is the back, and it is the line. The line will be better via playing together more but Dom will still be Dom. When he goes off and 'explodes', its for 8 yards. He just doesn't have great break-away speed and is not strong enough to run over people. If we did have a great back he would make our line look alot better than it looks to most of you. There were several plays when Dom had one guy to beat and couldn't beat him to bust off a long run. Several.

I'm no expert on running backs or offensive line play - but I feel like 2/3rds of our running plays end up with Domanick Davis running directly into the back of one of his linemen, and I KNOW that isn't an effective way to run the ball especially when your offensive line isn't getting much (any?) push. I thought the whole point of the zone blocking scheme was that it kind of spread the line out and created all these cutting lanes. I've also sorta felt like Davis has been 'running scared' since his fumbling spree in the early games, running like he just wants to get down on the ground and not fumble.
My point is....is Davis not being patient enough for the holes to open up? or is the line not executing the blocking scheme very well and so they all end up bunched up and the lanes would never develop even if Davis waited forever? My gut is telling me Davis isn't being patient enough because I feel like he always is just running into the backs of linemen but my head is saying that the o-line's pass protection has been pretty weak all year so maybe they aren't executing.

Dom is on NFL game film now and Teams know how to defend him. Teams scout and know he is not someone you have to commit an extra player to fortify the front-7 in order to stop. Last year he was a bit of an unknown. In order to run for more than 4.0 ypc in the NFL you have to be able to run away from people or run over them because you only have 9 blockers covering 11 players. If they all block their man you still have to beat the unblocked player. Dom can do a little of both (run over or run away from defenders), but if you are objective you can see that he can do a little of both, but its only a little of both.

*I heisted these figures and haven't double checked them but they look accurate. You would figure with 173 carries he would have made one linebacker miss or run over one, for one run of more than 11 yards. Just one, but he hasn't. Blocking is part of the dynamic, but it is only part of the equation.

Certainly teams have figured out they only need 7 in the box to stop the run, but they've also figured out they only need a four man rush to get pressure on the QB as well.
Also - I don't feel a lot of the time I watch the replay of a run and say "What was he doing look at that lane he could have gone thru!" So could ANY running back consistently run behind the line in its current state? I know good running backs create some of their own opportunities, but I don't know that the line is giving Davis many opportunities these days...and as you said...he doesn't seem to be at the level to create his own.

But is the solution a new RB, better o-line players, a better blocking scheme to fit our players, or simply more time for the players to get used to the new scheme?

The line definitely didn't block well at times, but Davis had some chances for some decent gains. It seemed like Davis was running the way Wells did in 2002. He showed no speed, little power, and none of that short burst of explosiveness he had last year. He had 3-4 times where it was down to one guy to beat and he could have had a good gain. Not once did he break it. He also seemed to be ankle tackled more than I like.

If Hollings is healthy I think we ought to put him in and see what he can do. We already know the limits of Davis and Wells, but we need to determine if we need to draft another back next year.

i'm sorry but yall can complain and get whatever running back yall want but he wont be able to do anything behind this o-line and than the next year you'd call for another RB and deja vu. Maybe we can consider the line the problem,,,sacks, run blocking, heck J.J moses couldnt run through the holes the o-line opens !

i think he is starting to run better. seems like those fumbles early in the year got to him. maybe he has been thinking about not fumbling to much. the main problem is the oline. the knocks on davis is his speed and durability not his ability at finding the hole. finding an opening is what a "third down back" should be good at. so if he cant find an opening im pretty sure what ever guy we pick up or draft will have a hard time as well.

i may be wrong and maybe he is not good enough to be our feature back. but i think the smart thing to do is fix the oline first. then if he still isnt doing it get a new rb. rather than wasting a pick a running back and then realizing that davis wasnt the problem. when we could use that pick on an olineman that we know we need.

this is what ive seen as a colt fan who would be a texans fan if they werent in my division:
Domanick davis had a good year last year, but i always thought a lot of his yards came because opposing teams feared David Carrs arm, and protected the deep ball. hes got the tools to be pretty good, but ive kinda thought jonathan wells could do most of the same things

Don't want to take anything away from DD, but yea, there was something funny about that long run at the end of the game. The announcer said the
Titans let him do it and that sounded far fetched, but maybe that's what
really happened. Anyway, DD had a good day but don't think he's our long-term, full time back. He's a tough little runner with good hands but I
don't think he's got the quickness or explosiveness we need to have in our
featured RB.

Until todays performance I was dissapointed in Dom. Now he showed he can do it, he knows he can do it, and now hopefully he will do it. Hes not a great runningback but he is definetly a good one. I agree with the others , its the line. If you notice david carr never has time to stay in the pocket. The pass rush dynamites in and he has to throw it quick causing us to miss 3rd down conversions. The line however did do better late in the game but we need consistancy.